Welcome. You'll find comments and information here about education in Tennessee with a focus on Nashville as well other issues as I keep an eye on legislation and news. You'll quickly realize I'm a conservative Christian who isn't the quiet submissive type and doesn't mind rankling, if necessary, to get the job done.

Thursday, July 14, 2005

Back on June 10 I blogged about the audit that Metro Nashville Schools failed in regard to keeping track of money:

Apparently, the system's culture of lax accountability has filtered down and this morning's Tennessean is reporting that an audit by the State has revealed that some 25% of the schools are keeping such poor financial records that tens of thousands of dollars are missing and unaccounted for. "Poking the Hornet's Nest."

MNPS apparently isn't the only system that needs to spend summer in Fiduciary Responsibilities 101.

The Anderson County district attorney general must determine whether to pursue criminal charges against a former school bookkeeper after two separate investigations by the state Comptroller's Office and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

However, Anderson County Director of Schools V.L. Stonecipher said this week he's not sure what will happen in the matter - even though more than $1,000 is missing from the coffers at Norwood Middle School. From The Oak Ridger

It's hard enough to persuade taxpayers that you need more money. It's nearly impossible to do so when you can't even keep track of what we've already provided. If a system cannot be relied upon to be 'faithful in small things' I don't know how it can justify asking us to trust in much larger things--like our children.

2 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Kay -- if you dig deeper into the initial reports, the auditor did not give complete disclosure on the accounts. For instance -- the account at my son's schools had a beginning balance which carried over from the prior year. They raised additional moneys during the school year, made the disbursement which used the starting balance from the prior year plyus the fund raiser and had a positive ending balance.

The Tennessean reporter has been made aware of this but refused to make clarifying remarks on her report. We know the press tends not to report the whole story, not do complete due diligence to make sure what they report is correct and reports what makes good headlines be it the complete truth or not.

This is a national trend this is getting worse. We must dig deeper to get at all the facts and THEN make a decision. We must insiste the press do the same thing.

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Tennessee Constitution

The state of Tennessee recognizes the inherent value of education and encourages its support. The General Assembly shall provide for the maintenance, support and eligibility standards of a system of free public schools. Article XI, Sec. 12